Judge fells great suit with single ruling

Sunday

Jul 10, 2005 at 12:01 AMJul 10, 2005 at 4:26 PM

The so-called "Civil Suit of the Century" never got to trial. After months of hearing about how the NCAA would be exposed as the evil culprit out to bring the once great Crimson Tide football program to its knees, the case was sacked last week by Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Steve Wilson.

There may still be a trail with Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams, but after Wilson's ruling, there isn't much left. At least there is little in comparison to the $60 million suit the coaches filed against the NCAA.

Their lead attorney, Tommy Gallion, has been a sensation with Alabama fans as he talked about the case on talk radio, was popular in internet chat rooms and seemingly tried his case in the media. A common statement by fans has been that the NCAA's method of doing things would not stand up in a court of law and that what happened may have been against NCAA rules but not against the law.

That may still be the case. The NCAA makes its own rules and if a school is a member, it must follow those rules, whether it likes them or not.

Gallion made a good case, presenting his side of the picture on behalf of his clients, Cottrell and Williams. It was interesting listening to the things he said, especially when the listeners were already in tune with him about how the NCAA had done Alabama wrong.

There seems to be no doubt about Tom Culpepper and Phillip Fulmer working with the NCAA, telling the sanctioning body things about Alabama's recruiting practices.

Nor is there any doubt that Roy Kramer, commissioner of the SEC at the time, did not inform Alabama that Albert Means was being put on the market by his high school coach. Perhaps this was more of a misdeed than what the NCAA did. At least if Kramer had informed Alabama about the Means situation, it would have put an end to the recruitment and there might not have been an investigation. But for whatever reason, he did not, thus leaving Alabama out to dry.

Little of that matters anymore in the wake of Wilson's ruling last Thursday. He threw out the heart and soul of Gallion's case for the plaintiffs, just four days before it was to go to trial.

Wilson has disallowed allegations of civil conspiracy, wantonness, negligence and invasion of privacy. He has dismissed all the claims against Thomas Yeager, chairman of the NCAA infractions committee at the time and those against Rich Johanningmeier, the NCAA's chief investigator.

The only thing left for a jury to hear is Cottrell's defamation claim against Culpepper and Williams' defamation claims against the NCAA. And that's hardly anything in comparison to what had been expected.

It would have been interesting to see how things would have developed, if Wilson had let the conspiracy theory trail go on as Gallion wanted. But even if he had, nothing much may have come of it. After all, look what happened with Logan Young in Memphis. When he was found guilty, it should have send a message to the Gallion team.

On another subject: Before the fireworks of July 4th fade completely, I'd like to play my broken record again. During all the celebrations of our nation's birthday, it was disgusting at what some people did with our national anthem.

It's been written here before, and will be again, that people should not disgrace the song or our flag. But it happens all the time. Think back to last Monday. How many times did you see the flag displayed improperly? How many times did you hear someone forget the words, lose the tune, drag the beat or change the way the Star Spangled Banner was supposed to end? Robert Goulet, who recorded it among "Great Songs of America" didn't do any of that. So why should lesser singers do so?

In 1931, Congress proclaimed it the official national anthem of The United States of America. They should have taken another step and proclaimed that only the official rendition would be allowed.

Our citizens, young and old, should be like the old geezers in an e-mail I received.

At sporting events, when the Star Spangled Banner is played they remove their caps, stand at attention, place their hand over their heart, and sing without embarrassment. They not only know the words, but believe in them.

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